What special role do CRAs play in financial markets and how successful have they been? · Credit ratings play an important role in financial markets. These ratings synthesise the vast array of information available about an issuer or borrower, its market and its economic environment. This gives investors and lenders a better understanding of the risks associated with borrowing or lending from a particular entity or investing in a particular debt-like financial product. (asic.gov.au) · As the financial markets became mainstream and matured, the access to capital markets and their scrutiny have both increased.
Financial statements are an important product of the accounting process. Provide an example of an external user. How could he or she be harmed by fraudulent and unethical financial statements? ? Large-scale bankruptcies and corporate frauds resulted in the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act.
Credit crunch and recession are great examples of external factors influencing the business. If the people are suffering from recession, they will not have money to spend money and this is how it affects the businesses. The current instability in Iraq is a good example of what may happen to businesses. In business it’s very important to understand, monitor and adapt to the political environment, because it crucially affects every business. Some of the very important factors are: Government stability effects businesses in a great range by competing with businesses to lower their costs, transparency is another important factor where anything the business does is revealed to the government and the government know exactly what they are up to.
1. From your understanding of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, explain how you feel it may negatively affect America’s stock exchanges. The higher than expected costs for many public companies caused some companies to abandon their public status. The costs of SOX compliance negatively affect companies, markets, investors, and economic growth. Fewer companies are willing to enter the market because of the SOX requirements that make going public too costly.
This is an implausible trend on the Balance sheet that BDO should have investigated further, especially with Leslie Fay’s outstanding Income Statement. 2.) First of all I would want to investigate vendor and customer accounts to reconcile payable and receivable amounts. Also, I would obtain bank statements and other lines of credit since the long term debt to equity ratio shows the company being highly leveraged.
Because the company must produce all financial information to the SEC many businesses find it to be very stressful and time consuming which takes time and money away from a company that is thriving like Kudler Fine Foods. Legal liability is important when conducting an IPO and those offering the shares can be personally sued. The expenses continue after the company goes public with the SEC reporting requirements. Kathy Kudler will not only lose control of some of the decision making for Kudler Fine Foods with an IPO, but she will also lose some of the profits, as a portion will go to the
Crimes such as there are always unacceptable do to the creation of uncertainty in the markets. The fear is bad for business in the United States and in the world as a whole. Many investors’ lost substantial amounts of money due to the scandals. The Sarbanes-Oxley now places a tighter regulation and control on the reporting of a company’s financial reports while holding those within the company accountable with criminal charges. With all the modifications and changes that are now being enforces, business investments into public companies in the United States is
Sarbanes Oxley came into force mainly due to the financial scandals committed by corporate giants like Enron, WorldCom, etc. Since then the Sarbanes Oxley act had been the most important piece of legislation which seriously affects the corporate governance, financial disclosures and total accounting pattern in the companies. After the Sarbanes Oxley act came into force, accounting system and financial statements disclosed by the companies made tremendous progress. This improvement has been possible due to rigorous requirements stated in the Sarbanes Oxley act. Due to this improvement it helps to protect investor confidence in the companies and the US legislature as well.
It uses Public money unnecessarily and is unfair to taxpayers. It makes financial reform going forward much more difficult. Protecting the markets for derivative products like CDOs and CDSs allows for a repeat of the risky practices that got us into the current crisis. And finally, by guaranteeing the corporate existence of large banks, we are maintaining their power and priorities and thus are not likely to see gains on predatory lending, foreclosure abuse, and other areas where reform is sorely needed. If we want to help the people who are suffering in this crisis and recession, then we should make financial policies with them directly in mind.
“Because and swaps—are instruments for speculation as well as hedges bonuses on Wall Street are tied to transaction volume, this creagainst a drop in an asset’s value. They can be used to bet ates an obvious problem.” that the price of an asset will go up or down. Derivatives also One fear is that losses in the trading department of a large can have more of an effect on a portfolio than simply buying bank, say, could cause a meltdown of the financial system, a or selling a stock or bond because of the leverage involved. scenario that has sometimes prompted calls for stricter regulaLast November, for instance, an investor could buy nearly $1 tion. Critics of government meddling note that these dire million in futures contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 In- warnings have never